Their Fairytale
by KimberleyIonaSmith
Summary: A what-if story. What if after the incident on Bella's birthday, Alice and Jasper had run to South America and discovered that it was possible for vampires to father children with humans. What might have changed if the Cullens had known in advance that Bella could get pregnant?
1. Chapter 1

Those days after my birthday were strange and terrifying. Something was building, but I didn't know what.

Alice and Jasper didn't come to school all week. Edward wouldn't give me a straight answer when I asked where they'd gone. He scowled tightly and changed the subject.

"Is it all because of me?" I asked him, "has Jasper run off because I got a papercut? I know that it wasn't his fault. I understand. He does know that, doesn't he? You have told him that it's alright?"

Edward's hands tensed on the table. "I couldn't tell him that," he said tightly, "it isn't alright. It never will be again. Besides, I haven't spoken to him since he left."

"But you could get a message through Alice," I pressed, "what if he's waiting to hear that you forgive him before he comes home?"

"Then he'll never come home," Edward spoke so low it was almost a growl.

I didn't know what to say to that. This was all my fault. Edward was fighting with his siblings, Jasper and Alice had run away from home, and all because I couldn't go five minutes without a clumsy accident.

It wasn't until the next day that I tried to talk to Edward about it again.

"Maybe," I said, "it's time we talked about changing me. I can't stand what this is doing to your family. If I was like you, then Jasper wouldn't need to stay away and . . ."

Edward just got up and walked out of the room without a word.

Things got worse after that. He was barely speaking to me. He didn't even seem to be able to look at me without suddenly remembering his anger and pain, he huffed and sighed, pulled at his hair and clenched his hands into fists. Something was brewing. At some point all this tension had to break.

So I wasn't really surprised when Edward said we needed to talk. Sure, I was terrified, and panicked, but I wasn't surprised.

He led me into the woods, a little way from the house. Then he turned to look at me.

"Bella," he said softly, "it's time for me to go."

"To leave Forks?" I asked, so this was what they were going to do, move on, start over in a new place, it made sense. But, what did that mean for me? Was this it? Was this the moment I would change forever, had he led me into the woods so he could turn me into a vampire?

Now that the moment had come, I was afraid.

"Oh," I stuttered, "I suppose that I can't exactly say goodbye to Charlie, that would raise too many questions. Will he just think that I've disappeared?"

Edward looked temporarily puzzled, but he quickly collected himself, "you're not coming," he said.

"Oh," I said, "I suppose that might be suspicious, if I disappeared at the same time as your whole family. How long will we gave you wait? Does Alice know how long it will be before I can disappear without suspicion falling on you?"

I was wondering how I would sleep without him, but that seemed like a pretty thing to bring up. I needed to sound practical now, to convince Edward that I was ready for this, for him, for forever.

"You're not coming," he said again, "not ever. We're leaving without you. This is goodbye."

"I don't understand. What are you saying? We're in love. You said that your kind didn't change."

"We don't change," he agreed, "I feel the same today as I did when I met you."

"Then, what's happening? How can you? Why would you? Edward?"

He looked me in the eye, at last, "I don't love you," he said, "I have never loved you. I never could love you. You are human, plain, silly, a little girl playing games she doesn't understand."

I gaped at him, and he quirked his mouth into a tired smile.

"Oh, Bella," he said my name slowly, as if this was the last time he would ever say it, "didn't I tell you what a good liar I am?"

Then he turned heel and ran, away from me and into the woods.

I couldn't believe he'd gone.

Barely knowing what I was doing, I tried to follow. I ran, but he was long gone, I had no idea which way he had turned.

I ran and ran, probably calling his name, never hearing any response.

I'd always known that I wasn't enough for him. But for him to realise it, so suddenly, for him to leave, like this; it wasn't the ending I'd expected.

I ran until I fell. Then, not knowing where I was, which way I'd come, how to go one chasing him, I gave up and stayed in the mud.

I couldn't find my feet. I couldn't even move my head. I just lay, where he left me, crumpled up like a used tissue, soaked in tears and snot.

I don't think that I was waiting for anything. I don't think that I really expected him to come back. Why would he?

Yet, when I did hear footsteps, my first thought was - Edward!

I looked up.

I saw the flash of a vampire running towards me. I felt cool hands on my back and brushing my hair out of my face.

I looked into golden eyes,full of sympathy and sorrow. But they weren't Edward's eyes. It wasn't him who had come for me.

"Alice! What are you doing here? He said you'd all left."

She shook her head, "what did that foolish boy say to you? I never thought that he would be cruel. I knew he was going to say something stupid. But I never thought that he would hurt you. Even when I saw it, I still didn't think he really meant to do it. I thought he would change his mind, once he was looking at you face to face."

"He . . " I was going to defend him, to explain that he had only told me the truth, nothing worse, but I couldn't get the words out. When I tried to say that Edward had left me, all I could do was cry.

"Oh, Bella," Alice said, pulling me close in a hard hug, "I'm sorry. Come on, let's get you home before it gets dark. What on earth was he thinking, leaving you here in the woods all alone? When I catch up with him . . . Well, we'll worry about that later. Come on. You need to get home and into bed. I'm sure sleep will help, it's pretty much a cure all for humans."

She lifted me easily and led me back to the house.

I wasn't interested in eating, and Alice accepted that. She put a glass of water by my bed and let me alone.

She must have stayed to talk to Charlie, because he didn't disturb me that night and, the next morning, he already knew about the break up.

I walked downstairs in a bit of a daze. It was hard to believe that Edward was really gone, but there was no denying the empty space next to me when I woke up.

Charlie was sat in the kitchen waiting for me.

When I entered the room he looked up, examining me carefully, as if he thought that my choice in outfit might give him some important clues.

"How are you doing?" he asked. Then, seemingly feeling that he needed to push a bit harder, he added, "break ups are really tough."

I opened my mouth, but quickly found myself swallowing tears. I couldn't say anything without crying yet, apparently.

Charlie winced, he has never really been strong on the emotional stuff.

"Look," he said, "I know it's hard for kids to believe, but I really do understand what you're going through. I mean, when your mum . . ." he looked at the table and coughed unnecessarily. "This isn't about me," he said, gruffly, as if his voice was remembering swallowing tears of his own, "just try to believe I get it. If you want to take the day, just stay home, lick your wounds a bit, I'll write whatever note the school needs."

I gulped and sqeaked out, "thanks, dad."

He nodded, "yeah. But - remember I am talking from experience here - only take today, alright? Take one day to, y'know, be sad. Then, tomorrow, get back out there, get on with stuff, and distract yourself. Won't stop it hurting - we both know that - but it'll keep you from getting lost."

I stared at him. He's never opened up so much before. I couldn't imagine what had brought it on now, only that I must be looking like hell.

"OK," I said, though I couldn't imagine ever wanting to leave the house again, let alone tomorrow.

He nodded and then gulped back the rest of his coffee.

"I've got to get going," he said, "take it easy, try to eat, and I'll bring back pizza for dinner, alright? Love you, Bells, that guy never deserved you."

I couldn't speak again, but that was alright, Charlie didn't seem to expect a reply, he just left his coffee cup in the sink, grabbed his jacket, and left.

I was alone in the house.


	2. Chapter 2

One day of mourning didn't make much of a dent in my grief. It still felt as though the world should have ended the instant Edward turned his back on me. The sun shouldn't be shining. There shouldn't be stars in the sky. Didn't the world know it was over?

I suppose I should have been expecting Edward to leave me, and there was a part of me that had known it would happen. But, somehow, that didn't lessen the pain at all. Maybe it did make sense that Edward would tire of me, but it still hurt.

The next day, as my dad had suggested, I got dressed and I drove in to school.

I wasn't consciously looking for Edward's car, but when I noticed it wasn't there my heart ached a little bit more. He was really, truly gone then.

I blinked my stinging eyes, and wondered why I hadn't thought to put on sunglasses. They might have hidden my red eyes, and meant that people would only guess that I was crying, they wouldn't actually see it happening.

Then I got out of my truck, into the Forks drizzle and remembered. I hadn't worn sunglasses because there was never any sun in Forks and I didn't want to draw attention to myself, especially not today.

I trudged towards the school, my books felt heavy, my feet were leaden, my head ached. This was the last place I wanted to be, explaining to everyone that I'd been dumped.

There was a moment when I might have turned around and gone straight home, but then a car pulled into the lot behind me, and I had to scuttle towards the entrance to avoid getting splashed. The car stopped and Alice leapt out, followed by Rosalie, Emmett, and - easing himself from the driver's side - Jasper. All the Cullens but one emerged from the car and all were looking my way.

There were all still here. Edward had lied.

If I'd been just a bit closer to my truck, I would definitely have made a run for it right then. But, the Cullens were between me and my escape vehicle. There was no way I could get away without passing them. And there was no way I could get past Alice without being forced to talk to her.

Instead I pressed on and walked into school. Maybe, if I could just keep my head down, focus on the classes, avoid any emotional conversations, maybe I could survive this.

Morning classes weren't as bad as I expected. Angela was in my first class and she told me that everyone knew about the break up already. Apparently, when Edward and I hadn't been in yesterday, his siblings had explained to anyone who would listen that he'd switched schools and we weren't going to try the long-distance thing.

I was a bit surprised that the story had got around so fast. The Cullens usually kept pretty much to themselves. But it was a relief not to have to make up a story myself.

"How are you doing?" Angela asked.

I swallowed hard. Her kind tone hurt.

"OK," I lied, "I guess."

Angela gave me a sympathetic smile, "it'll get better," she said, "everything passes."

She didn't make me talk about him any more, though, for which I was grateful. She focussed on talking about our English essay, there was nothing emotional about that.

Lunchtime was always going to be hard. I was so used to sitting with Edward, it felt weird to be walking in to the dining hall without him.

Alice appeared at my elbow, guiding me to her table. At least if I sat with the Cullens I wouldn't have to make up some vampire-free explanation of what had happened.

"We got you some lunch," she said, cheerily, steering me away from the queue.

I almost asked how she'd chosen, but this was Alice, she probably stood in the queue, deciding to pick each item in turn until she got a vision that satisfied her.

I sat down and picked at some fries.

Jasper was sat on the other side of the table, with Alice between him and me. He looked miserable and pained. Poor Jasper. The incident at my party had really upset him. I wondered how Alice had convinced him to return, it was obvious that he didn't want to be here.

When I looked at him, wishing there was something that I could do to help, he glanced over in my direction, with a puzzled expression.

"You're not afraid," he said.

I shook my head, "of course not, I trust you."

Jasper laughed dryly, "well, that makes one person," he said. "You shouldn't trust me, Bella."

His eyes darkened and for a second I felt real fear, intense, sweaty fear, like when I had faced James. Jasper's eyes were dark and deadly and I felt what it must be like to face him, alone, undefended.

I tried to shake the feeling out of my head, "stop it," I said, though it came out more as a plea than a demand, "I know what you're doing."

Edward had told me that Jasper could manipulate emotions. I hadn't really understood how real it would be. It was true fear he had given me, not some simulation.

"Jasper," I heard Alice say his name, softly.

Then the fear went away as quickly as it had arrived and I felt irritated instead.

Jasper turned back to staring the table. I didn't feel quite as sorry for him this time.

Rosalie sat next to me and Emmett sat down on the other side of me.

Rosalie watched me eat for a while, then said, baldly, "I'm sorry that Edward's such an idiot."

"We all are," Alice agreed.

I smiled slightly, "shouldn't you all be taking his side? Shouldn't you be with him?"

"Nope," Rosalie answered, "we don't all skip town on a whim." She looked very strangely at Alice then, as if she was trying to ask her something.

"He'll be fine," Alice assured me, though she gave Rosalie a tiny head shake at the same time, so I don't think that Rosalie had been asking her about Edward. "He needs a bit of time to sort his head out. But, he'll be back, trust me."

It was like a ray of light in a dark cellar, "have you seen something?" I asked.

Alice chewed her top lip, her face tightened around her eyes, "not yet," she admitted, "he hasn't decided to come home yet. But, I know Edward. I don't need a vision to know he's going to regret this and come home."

"I know this must feel awful," Rosalie said, "maybe we can help by taking your mind off things. How about a shopping trip? There's nothing like new shoes to give your confidence a boost."

I was confused. Rosalie had never seemed to want to be my friend before. She's never been unkind, exactly, but I always got the impression that she'd disliked me. Something was going on, but I had no idea what.

It wasn't exactly a question that I could ask, though. I could hardly say 'hey, Rosalie, how come you're being pleasant and friendly today, I'd expected you to be weird and rude?' There might be a polite way if phrasing it, but that was going to take some serious thought.

So instead I found myself saying, "sure, that would be nice," calmly agreeing to go shoe shopping with my ex-boyfriends sister, who might or might not hate me.

"Fantastic!" Alice said. She started bouncing around, grabbing the last coke off a tray and passing it to me, then giving Jasper a quick kiss in her excitement. At some point, Jasper had started reading a book; he didn't look up when Alice kissed his cheek, but his expression changed slightly and he looked a little less blank. Alice went on, "we'll go on Saturday; it's going to be such fun! Rose, you're going to find . . ."

"Don't tell me now," Rosalie said, "that ruins the fun."

Alice sighed, "isn't anticipation half the fun?"

Rosalie shook her head, "not happening," she said, "not this time. I want my shopping trip entirely in one timeline."

"Really?" Alice asked, "you don't want any peeks at anything that will happen?"

Something about her tone seemed to change Rosalie's mind, "what did you see?" she asked eagerly.

"I'll bet she didn't see this!" Emmett said triumphantly, tossing a pudding cup at his sister.

But, before it hit her, Jasper, without even seeming to look up, lifted a tray off the table. The pudding cup hit the tray, spun back at Emmett, and exploded messily all over his shirt.

"Of course I saw that," Alice said with a giggle.

Jasper looked over at his brother now and his lips jumped into a half smile. "Why are you still trying that, after all these years?"

Emmett was wiping pudding off his shirt with paper towels, he shrugged, "one day, I will surprise Alice, and it will be worth all the practice runs."

"That would only make sense," Jasper replied, returning to his book, "if you were learning something from your failures. You don't appear to be doing so."

Emmett gave up trying to clean his shirt and pulled it off over his head, revealing the T-shirt he was wearing underneath and attracting a lot of appreciative glances from all over the room.

Alice barked, "don't, Emmett, if you throw away a shirt because it got a bit dirty you're going to make people wonder. Put it in your bag to take home."

Emmett rolled his eyes and grumbled that his bag would smell of food, but he did as Alice suggested.

"Now you trust me," Alice said.

Emmett laughed at her, "I always trust you. It's just that one day I am determined to surprise you. It must be possible."

"It is possible," Jasper agreed, "it's merely too complicated for you to achieve."

"Alright," Rosalie said, putting her hand over Emmett's, "no throwing things at Jasper. It must be time to head back to class now."

Alice nodded in agreement, and the Cullens started tidying up the table. I would have helped, but by the time I realised that they were clearing the table, everything was gone and Emmett was tossing the rubbish in the trash.


	3. Chapter 3

Shopping with Rosalie and Alice was actually kind of fun.

Alice could be a bit overwhelming one on one, but with Rosalie there as well, she seemed sort of tamer.

When Alice tried to send me into a changing room with a massive pile of dresses to try on, Rosalie stopped mecand said, "hold on, there's no point trying on stuff that you'll never wear. Just give me all the ridiculously impractical stuff and I'll put it back on the shelves."

I was hugely relieved.

Rosalie seemed - despite the stunning clothes that she wore herself - to agree with me on the importance of comfort.

"Bella needs room to move in her clothes," she told Alice, "she needs soft fabrics with lots of give."

Alice didn't seem offended by Rose's demands, either. On the contrary, she seemed to enjoy the added challenge. Her eyes lit up and she became quite animated trying to solve the problem of soft, comfy, fashionable clothes.

Buoyed up by this, I made a stipulation of my own.

"I don't wear blue," I said.

Alice paused and exchanged a look with Rosalie. With their perfect memories, I couldn't hope that they didn't know precisely why I had gone off blue. I could only hope their equally perfect manners would prevent them mentioning it.

Once again, Rosalie took it in her stride. "Do you mean a hard no on all shades of blue," she asked, "or just certain blues?"

"No blue at all," I said.

"Alright," Rosalie said, "no blue."

Alice shrugged, "we can work with that."

After a while, Alice remembered that I should eat and led us all to a little café. Not wanting to draw attention to my decreased appetite, I ordered a salad, which I hoped it would be easy to eat. Since he's left me, I'd been finding it harder to eat, and forgot meals altogether unless someone was around to remind me.

Eating around vampires can get a bit awkward. I feel slightly self conscious doing something so overtly human and - for me at least - so frequently messy.

I tried to get the others talking to distract them from the sound of my chewing. When you're the only one who chews, it sounds horribly loud.

"So, where did you go?" I asked, after my birthday, "you were gone for days."

Rosalie started coughing, which was strange because she hadn't been the one eating.

Alice ignored her, "South America," she said.

"Isn't it hot there, and sunny?"

Alice smiled, "yes," she answered, "we had to stay away from people. But there's plenty of places to hide, especially for us. We didn't run into any problems. We did meet some interesting characters, though."

Characters? She means not people, I guess.

"Vampires?"

"Some of those too," Alice agreed.

"You met someone else?" I asked, "someone neither human nor vampire?"

Alice nodded, "eat," she said, "and I'll tell you about it."

"Now?" Rosalie asked.

"Now's the best time," Alice assured her.

Rosalie looked unsure, but she must have decided to trust Alice because she didn't try to stop her telling her story.

"Jasper was upset, as I'm sure you can imagine. I was concentrating mainly on trying to help him. So when I started getting holes in my vision, I wasn't very confused. I assumed it was something to do with Jasper's state of mind, that he wasn't making clear decisions.

"But, as Jasper calmed down, the holes didn't go away. It was as though, if we walked in certain directions, or decided to stay in certain places, our futures completely disappeared. Had I not been so worried about Jazz, I expect it would have panicked me. But, as it was, I had no energy to worry about an odd glitch in my gift. The glitch didn't go away, though nothing terrible happened. It started to seem as though the holes were a creature of sorts, moving around us. I began to wonder whether it wasn't us causing the holes at all, it was something else.

"Now that we've met you and seen how completely you can block Edward's gift, it occurred to me that maybe there was someone nearby who could block my gift. If I didn't know about you, I might never have thought of it, so I should thank you for the idea, in a way. I decided to try and find them. Once I was aiming for the thing that I couldn't see, it wasn't at all hard to find him."

"Him?" It was strange to go from these vague holes to a person.

Alice nodded, "a man called Nahuel. But, he wasn't a man. He had a heartbeat, but he didn't smell human."

"What was he?"

"He's a hybrid, half human, half vampire. I had never met or heard of such a thing. I had no idea it was possible. It was a surprise to Jasper as well. We called Carlisle and found that this was a new idea for him too.

"Carlisle wanted to invite Nahuel to visit us, he would love to learn more. But Nahuel is wary of our kind. He doesn't smell tempting, neither of us had to try not to feed from him. But, he isn't as strong as a full vampire; he was, understandably, unwilling to visit such a large coven.

"He did talk to us, though. He told us that his father was a vampire and his mother was a human. He was born, not made. His father got his mother pregnant. It was a fast pregnancy, apparently, substantially shorter than a fully human pregnancy, and he grew rapidly even after birth. He grew to adult size in only nine years. But he was a baby when he was born."

"That's amazing," I said, "but what happened to his mother?"

Alice looked down at her hands, "she died during childbirth," she admitted, "he was brought up by his aunt. She's a vampire herself now, and they live together."

It was an incredible story. I had barely got my head around vampires existing at all, but now I heard there was this other hybrid creature.

I'd finished eating by now. Alice swept my stuff away into the bin.

"So," Rosalie asked, changing the subject, while Alice was gone, "what are you going to do after high school?"

"I don't know. I had thought that I'd be . . ." I trailed off, too embarrassed to say that I had expected to be turned into a vampire so that I could spend the rest of eternity with her brother.

But Rosalie seemed to know what I meant, she nodded, "I wasn't much older than you when I died," she said, "I'd always thought that I would marry, have beautiful babies, be a mother. Then I died and all my plans had to suddenly change. In the early days, I thought that I might follow Carlisle. I even went to medical school."

"Oh," I said, remembering another vampire who tried that once upon a time, "was the blood too much?"

Rosalie gave me a strange smile, "no," she said, "it wasn't the blood. It was the babies that I couldn't cope with. I couldn't control my own jealousy, I suppose. Seeing other women having babies, seeing nurseries full of babies that could never be mine, it was just too painful. I had to stop.

"But, that was all years ago, now I have Emmett and Alice, and all the rest of them, and, I have hope again. It's not the fairy tale life I'd planned, but, you know, you adjust."

I smiled, "yes, I suppose, given enough time, people can adjust to almost anything." If Rosalie could find hope after all her disappointments, surely I could recover from a high school break up.

Alice returned and we carried on shopping. We didn't talk about vampire hybrids or impossible futures anymore. We talked about necklines and sleeve length. It was fun.


	4. Chapter 4

That night I dreamed of babies.

I dreamed of Rosalie, human and pregnant, with babies crawling over her feet. She was smiling more serenely than I have ever seen her. "This is Gretel," she said, "and Hansel. There's Jack, and that little girl in the hood is called Red."

"How sweet," I exclaimed, "they're all named after fairy tales."

"Of course," dream Rosalie replied, "because now that I'm a mother, I can live happily ever after. And it's all thanks to you."

"Me? But what did I do?"

Rosalie just laughed as if she thought that I must be joking, that I must know what I'd done. But I didn't.

"What?" I asked again, feeling desperate now, I needed to know what I'd done, it was important, "what did I do?"

But Rosalie wasn't answering me. She was so lost in her bliss, so sure that I knew all about it, that she just smiled at me, and seemed oblivious to my desperation.

Suddenly it wasn't Rosalie in front of me anymore, it was Edward, his face contorted into a horrible grimace. "You died!" he screamed at me, furious, "you died, Bella!"

His eyes were pitch black and his voice was scratchy and hoarse. He looked little like the suarve and composed Edward that I knew. Yet I had no doubt it was him. Perhaps because it was my dream, and, in dreams, we have thus utter certainties that can be almost unobtainable in life. Perhaps because I still loved him and my heart would know him anywhere, in any state, any disguise.

His fury and betrayal at my death were visceral, almost feral. He had never looked more like a monster as he screatched at me for dying.

I woke up sweating.

I was hot. And I was alone, because Edward had left me. It would have been easier to wake to that angry, demonic Edward than it was to wake without him, which didn't surprise me. I had never doubted my love for him.

The dream had scared me, so I put on my bedside light to reassure myself. I picked up a book from the table and tried to read it. But I couldn't stop thinking about the Rosalie in my dream. She had looked so different from the Rosalie I knew, not because she was human, but because she was happy. I realised that I finally had my answer to why Rosalie seemed to hate me and then suddenly seemed to stop: she'd never actually hated me at all, she'd just been unhappy. Being changed into a vampire had robbed her of the only thing she's ever wanted: the chance to be a mother.

At some point, I must have fallen asleep again. I awoke in the morning, with my lamp still on and 'The Handmaid's Tale' clutched in my hand. And I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to help Rosalie have a baby. I was going to offer to be a surrogate for her and Emmett.

I thought again about the Edward from my dream. I thought about his furious face and his angry shouting.

How strange that my unconscious would summon an image of Edward to warn me. I knew, of course, that my plan was dangerous. Alice had not had any good news to tell about those other human women who had born hybrid children. But, why did I imagine the risk in Edward's voice? Wasn't he the very last person who would care what happened to me?

Maybe it was my mind's way of encouraging me. Since Edward left me, what did I have to lose? Why not risk everything, when my everything was so empty and meaningless?

Maybe this was why I'd met the Cullens. That draw I had to Edward, and he - temporarily at least - seemed to have to me, it was fate's way of bringing me into Rosalie's life. She needed a human surrogate and she couldn't tell anyone about her true nature. But, I was a human who already knew. This was something that only I could do. I must be meant to do it.

This could be the purpose of my life. This could be what I was here to do. It was amazing to feel like this, sort of chosen. I had never thought of myself as having a destiny before, there had never been anything special about me.

I wondered what Nahuel's mother had been like. Had she known what she was doing? Had she loved his father the way that I lived Edward? Had she wanted to give her own life for her baby? What could be more noble than that, to sacrifice yourself to bring a new life into the world?

Meeting Edward and his family had made me feel weak and useless. They were all so much quicker than me, so much smarter than me, so much more graceful than me. It had seemed impossible that I would ever have anything to offer to this perfect family. But, now I had found it: the one thing that only I could do.

I would have to wait until the end of school to tell Rosalie and Emmett about my offer. I wasn't sure how they would react, so I didn't want to risk telling them anywhere public.

Luckily for me, my best friend is a psychic, so she called me first thing and invited me over for 'dinner' after school.

"Don't worry," Alice said cheerfully, "I haven't told anyone what I saw. I know that you want to make the offer yourself and you deserve to see their faces when they hear."

I was hoping that meant it would go well.

It went even better than I could have imagined.

Rosalie's face lit up. She looked almost like a different person, suddenly free of the pain that I had never quite recognised in her face.

"Are you sure?" She asked, but then she shook her head, "actually, don't answer that, not yet. This isn't the kind of offer you can be sure about. You have lots to consider and you may well change your mind later. Let me enjoy an evening of hope and we can be realistic later."

Emmett seemed unhappy with that plan, "you shouldn't get your hopes up only to have them dashed later," he said.

Rosalie sighed, "there's nothing that could make it easier if I have to return to the old hopelessness. If all I get is one evening if hope, then I want to enjoy it."

"Do you think it might not work?" I asked.

"Rose expects you to change your mind," Jasper explained, he sighed. I suppose that he must have always known about this great pain that Rosalie carried inside. Jasper must have always felt this sorrow with her, this great hopelessness. "Do you understand how dangerous this would be for you?"

"I think so," I said, "Alice told me that Nahuel's birth mother died."

Jasper nodded solemnly, "I know Edward told you that he, and Esme and Rosalie were all near death when Carlisle changed them."

I nodded.

"You shouldn't be under any illusions," Jasper said, "venom can heal a great deal, but it can't heal everything. If your heart were to stop, then there would be no option of changing you, even venom couldn't save you. You might end this pregnancy alive, you might end it as one of us, or you might really die."

"I knew that," I said, "and I still want to do it. I would die one day, anyway, why not for something worthwhile?"

Alice closed her eyes. I guessed she was trying to see my future, now that I had made the decision to try and carry a vampire baby.

"You think this is that important?" Emmett asked.

"I think you've been waiting to become parents for longer than a single human lifetime. I think it's about time you got your chance," I said.

"This isn't a maths problem," Rosalie said, sadly, "you can't weigh up years like that. Bella, I don't know if we can really let you try."

"I think that this is what is supposed to happen," I said, "if Edward hadn't saved me from that car accident, then I wouldn't be here now. Nobody knows how long they have left, not even you. I want to do something that matters. This is how it should be."

Alice seemed to be having trouble seeing what she wanted to see. She frowned and clenched her hands in front of her. Jasper put his arm around his wife protectively.

"Have you thought about Charlie?" Rosalie asked me, "have you thought about how he would react if he lost you?"

I couldn't stand to think of the emotional side of that question, not yet. So I focused on the practical aspects.

"What do we do, then," I asked, trying to keep the fear out of my voice, "if I have to be changed right away? Charlie's a cop, he's going to be suspicious. He knows how much time I spend here, he's bound to investigate your family."

Jasper gave me a hard look and a boost of fortitude. "Plan B," he said, "we stage a big car accident and we all disappear."

"Oh," I said, "but there won't be any bodies."

"There's a fire in Plan B," Jasper explained.

Well, a big fire would stop people expecting bodies, I supposed. The whole town would assume that we were beyond even finding.

"A fire? But, fire destroys vampires too. If everyone thinks we all got into some horrible fire, what will Edward think? If he hears, won't he panic?"

"No," Jasper said.

"No?"

"He's definitely going to recognise Plan B," Jasper said, "he'll be furious, but he'll know what we did right away."

"I don't understand," I confessed.

"Well," Jasper said, "originally, it was Plan B for Bella. Um . . . it's the plan I set up when Edward first started dating you, just in case things went wrong."

"Oh." Jasper had a plan to make the family disappear, just in case Edward changed me by accident, or killed me.

Why am I surprised? Of course Jasper had a plan in case Edward killed me. That's what Jasper does: he makes plans in case of emergencies or accidents.

"Jasper!" Rosalie said, scandalised.

He looked at me nervously, "I shouldn't have said that, should I?"

I shook my head, "it's not your fault. It's fine. I am still getting used to all this, the Cullen way of doing things . . ."

"I'm not sure that accidentally telling someone that you had a plan to cover up their death is the Cullen way," Jasper said sheepishly, "I think it might just be the Jasper Whitlock way, and I'm not very proud of it."

Alice opened her eyes to look at her husband, "what are you up to, Jasper?" she asked.

"Er . . . just trying to extract my foot from my great big mouth," he said.


	5. Chapter 5

Once I managed to convince Rosalie that I was serious, she said that I would have to talk to Carlisle. She said that he would be able to tell me more about what to expect and help me work out whether or not this was something that I could really try.

The Cullens arranged to all be out of the house while I talked to Carlisle. I was grateful for that. It promised to be a humiliating conversation and I really didn't want any witnesses to it.

"So, Bella," Carlisle said, "I realise that this isn't in any way the ideal situation. Ideally you would have a completely impartial doctor so that you felt comfortable with whatever decision you make. But, for several reasons, we can't exactly talk to any other doctor about this procedure. I will do my best not to make you uncomfortable in any way and I want to remind you that you can change your mind at any point and I will respect that."

"Er . . . thank you. I don't think that I'm going to change my mind," I said. It would be a horrible thing to do - to get Rosalie's hopes up and then dash them. Surely I wasn't that horrible a person.

"Of course," Carlisle said, "but, please remember that I'm here for you. As your doctor, I will follow your wishes. Now, shall we talk about the practicalities?"

I nodded and blushed.

Carlisle smiled, "you're a brave girl, Bella, and you have a generous heart. To even consider such a sacrifice . . . Of course we would be using artificial insemination. Since we know that human women have managed to carry such pregnancies before, we have reason to believe that it is possible and relatively safe. But, I don't wish to deceive you, this is incredibly risky. I do not know for certain what effects the venom will have on you. If you were to go ahead, I would very much like to keep you under supervision thoughout the entire procedure."

Of course, because what was the only thing that could make me trying to get pregnant with Emmett's baby more awkward? Having Carlisle watch me do it, of course!

"Um . . . would you mind if I thought about that for a bit?"

Carlisle shook his head, "of course not. I expect that this conversation will leave you with a lot to consider. How about I write down all the decisions and you can take the list away to consider privately?"

That sounded very organised and sane. It looked like Carlisle was going to be the dispassionate organiser of this adventure. I was more than happy to leave that to him.

"Now, we don't know anything about how a pregnancy like this might proceed," Carlisle said. "I have been trying to find any stories or evidence that I can, but I am not having a lot of success yet. So, if we were to best successful in creating an embryo, I cannot say how this would affect your body.

"It seems likely that a vampire - human hybrid would be strong, even at the embryonic stage. I would be concerned about broken ribs and internal injuries, particularly after quickening. These possibilities concern me greatly. I do not think that it would be wise to treat this as a normal pregnancy. One kick could cause serious damage. And, a normal hospital would not be able to help.

"In short, I would feel most comfortable if you were under my direct care throughout the entire gestational period."

"You'd want me to be here the whole time?" I asked.

"I would suggest you consider the possibility of moving in with us, yes. Rosalie is a highly qualified doctor herself, though, she might be a little emotionally involved."

"I knew that I would have to leave Charlie at some point, but, you think it would have to be straight away."

Carlisle tented his hands on the table, "I do not wish to make decisions for you," he said, "but, I would urge you to consider my suggestion." He added it to the list.

By the end of the conversation, my list of decisions to make had grown very long. Did I want to disappear sooner rather than later? There was, after all, no way that Charlie could know what was happening. Did I want to be changed if the pregnancy went wrong? Did I want to decide on how many attempts we would make?

"How much do you know about becoming one of us?" Carlisle asked.

I was embarrassed to admit that I knew almost nothing.

Carlisle seemed surprised, "I was under the impression that you had already discussed this with Edward. He certainly hinted at such a discussion."

"I tried," I admitted, "but he never really wanted to discuss it . . ."

Of course he never wanted to discuss it. What a fool I was to imagine that he loved me! Hadn't he always been abundantly clear that ours was a temporary fling? Hadn't he always insisted that he didn't want forever, didn't want me for eternity? How could I have deceived myself?

"Of course," Carlisle agreed, "I quite understand. Well, perhaps you should know more details. It seems like it is time."

He told me a lot about the pain of the change and the hot itch of thirst. He told me about the difficulty that newborn vampires have in controlling themselves and the possibility of forgetting parts of my human life.

"You may find it helpful," Carlisle finished by saying, "to talk to other members of the family about their experiences. Jasper, in particular, has a lot of experience with newborn vampires, though I would hope that your experience would differ from his in many important features." He added a note to the list, then he put his pen down and focused his eyes on mine. "It seems important to say that - though the choice must be entirely yours - I would be delighted and honoured to welcome you into our family, should you agree to join us."

"Er . . . Thank you," I stammered. There was no reason for him to be so kind, and I was really rather overwhelmed.

"There's one more thing that I would like to do," Carlisle said, once he was satisfied with his list, "I would like to give you a full work up, to check your general health and see if there's anything that could get in the way of your plans. Again, we don't have to do this today, or at all, just let me know."

"But," he added, "I think at least a rudimentary exam would be advisable. Should you decide not to go ahead, it might be easier for you if I could explain that, after my examination, the surrogacy was no longer an option."

"You'd lie for me?"

Carlisle smiled slightly, "I don't think I would need to go so far. You don't need to offer any explanation and Rosalie would never ask for one. I only thought that you might appreciate the added uncertainty."

I had expected Carlisle to be eager to see me go ahead with this plan, but he seemed to be almost the opposite, offering me exit strategies at every turn.

Obviously, the exam was horribly embarrassing. I discovered that I blush all over, which definitely upped the embarrassment for me.

Carlisle was utterly professional, and calm. He was careful to ask my permission over and over. Despite the vulnerable situation, he succeeded in making me feel completely in control. I know that he thought he wasn't the ideal doctor for me, but I have never met a more respectful and solicitous medic. I wouldn't want anyone else taking care of me and of Rosalie's baby.

When I got dressed again, Carlisle discreetly slipped from the room. He returned with a cup of tea.

"I hope that you won't be offended by my asking this," he said, carefully looking at some paperwork and avoiding eye contact, "and I don't expect you to answer me, but, is there any chance that you're considering this in order to make contact with Edward? As I say, there's no need for you to answer me. It's certainly none of my business, but I hope that you will consider the possibility privately."

"Do you . . ." I paused, unsure how to phrase this question, but I needed to know. "Have you heard anything from him?"

Carlisle sighed, "not recently," he said, "though that's not as surprising to me as it may seem to you. Edward isn't really a child, he hasn't been a child for a long time. If he wants some time alone, he has every right to take it. This isn't the first time that he's taken a bit of a break from being a Cullen."

Though, last time he left, didn't Edward dash around in the night murdering people?

"Oh," Carlisle said, realising what I must be thinking, "I don't mean to imply that this is anything like that. I'm quite sure that Edward would never make those decisions again. I only intended to reassure you that you needn't worry about him. Edward can take care of himself. He'll be back when he's ready."

Carlisle insisted that I take some time to consider all the questions he'd come up with.

"Won't Rosalie and Emmett want to get started?" I asked, feeling it would be cruel to dangle thus great offer in front of them and then keep them waiting.

Carlisle frowned, it was a strange look on him. I don't think that I had ever seen him look stern before. "Rosalie has waited a long time," he said, "and she's a grown woman. Please believe me, Bella, nobody has any expectations of you. You are completely free to make any decision you wish and it will not be held against you, especially not by Rosalie. I will let you know when I have the results of these tests, and then you can tell me if you wish to talk again. You don't have to talk to me, of course, I would quite understand if you were uncomfortable doing so. But I would urge you to discuss your feelings with somebody. These decisions that you are making are not easy ones by any means."


	6. Chapter 6

After my chat with Carlisle, all went quiet on the surrogacy front. Carlisle claimed that the results of the blood tests would take at least two months to come back. I don't think anyone believed him - I know that I didn't - but it seemed to be an effective way of closing the conversation for a while.

At the moment, we didn't know for sure whether the surrogacy plan was even a possibility, so there was no point in discussing the details. So, life went on quietly. I saw the Cullens at school, ate lunch with them. Sometimes Rosalie, Alice and I hung out after school or at weekends. We never talked about the future at all, never discussed surrogacyor vampires, nor did they ever mention Edward, which I was grateful for.

Rosalie leant me obscure novels that she had loved, but that had gone out of print. Alice, having noticed my new camera, took me into the woods and spent hours helping me line up the perfect shots of leaf-dappled light and rain-soaked rabbits.

Sometimes we did homework together and I was treated to the sight of Alice using her gift to help Rosalie make just the right number of spelling mistakes to avoid getting another A. She needed to drop just enough to avoid the public attention of being valedictorian without raising any concerns over her dropping performance. It was a fine art, apparently.

We went to movies, hung out in the mall, chose clothes for one another, tried on make up. Now that I knew Rosalie's story, I couldn't avoid noticing her longing looks whenever we passed a family.

I might not have been talking about it, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was certain that I wanted to go ahead and that nothing would change my mind. I felt like I understood Rosalie now , like I could see her pain, and I wanted nothing more than to help her.

But, Carlisle had given me a lot to think about. Did I want to be a vampire now?

I had been so sure of it before. It hadn't just been Edward, not really. I had loved him - I probably still did - but being with him hadn't been all that being a vampire had meant. I had loved - did love - the rest of the Cullens too. I wanted to be a part of that big, loud, warm family.

That night when I watched them play baseball, hadn't I wondered what it might be like if I could play with them?

The strength, the speed, the incredible memory - all that hadn't really mattered at all. Even the idea of living forever hadn't really turned my head. But, I couldn't deny it, being one of the Cullens, part of such a tight family unit, that did appeal to me.

Did I still want it, though?

Did I want the Cullens without the love of Edward?

Maybe it would be better for everyone if I just helped Rosalie and Emmett, then quietly slipped out of their lives.

Hanging around any longer would be so many kinds of awkward.

It would be awkward for Rosalie, and for Emmett, and for their kid. The surrogate isn't supposed to haunt the new family, are they?

It would be beyond awkward for Edward, who was bound to return to his family some day. He didn't deserve to have his ex girlfriend following him around for the rest of eternity.

And how would I ever cope if he ever fell in love for real? Could I bear to see him with someone else? Almost certainly not. They say that time heals all wounds, but I couldn't imagine any amount of time would prepare me for the horror of having to meet Edward's new girlfriend.

Yet, there was no reason that he should stay single forever. Not Edward.

Whichever way I looked at it, there was no place in the Cullen family for me anymore. That dream was over. I would have to tell Carlisle to give me the vampire equivalent of a DNR. A DNC I suppose: do not change.

I didn't want to die, that would be absurd. But, I didn't want to live forever anymore. That desire disappeared the moment that Edward left me.

I was turning it over on my way into school. I was so involved in my thoughts that I didn't really pay attention to what was happening around me. I didn't even see Jessica until I walked right into her.

"Ow! Bella! Look where you're going much?"

"Oh, sorry. I was thinking about something else. Are you OK?"

"More like you were headed for the Cullens and literally can't see anyone else, even if they're right in front of you," Jessica muttered irritably, straightening her books.

"The Cullens?" I asked, bemused.

Though they'd been on my mind, I hadn't realised that they were actually around. But now I followed Jessica's gaze and saw them across the courtyard. They were watching us, pretending that they couldn't hear everything we were saying.

"Yes, Bella," Jessica answered acidly, "the Cullens, the only people you ever deign to speak to these days. Honestly, isn't it enough that you scared Edward away with your stalking? Do you have to keep up the creepy super-fan behaviour until they're all forced to transfer away?"

I didn't know what to say to that. I blushed bright red. I knew - though obviously Jessica couldn't - that Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and Alice had just heard her call me their 'super-fan'. And I was mortified.

I ducked my head and ran off, wishing that heading into school didn't mean walking straight towards the Cullens, but not quite so fervently as I was wishing that they couldn't see or hear me at all.

"Don't mind her," Rose said, as soon as I was near enough to hear her, "she's spiteful girl."

My cheeks felt even hotter. It would have been easier to ignore Jessica if I hadn't suspected that she was absolutely right. Was that what I was: the Cullens' stalkerish super-fan?

My first class that day was biology. It was never an easy class to get through (after all, it was where I met him), but this session was especially awful.

For some reason, possibly just because Mr Banner was tired, we watched a video. The room was dark and stifling behind the heavy black blinds. The sound was turned up too loud, making the narrator's voice distort unpleasantly as he began to talk about wasps. Parasitoid wasps lay their eggs inside an unsuspecting insect host. The insect doesn't notice at first, but the larva develops inside them, and gradually consumes their host from the inside out. In a ghastly parody of pregnancy, the wasp larva can cause the host body to swell as it grows and develops, until eventually the larva either bursts out of the - by now dead - insect, or else gnaws out through the insect's skin.

One moment I was half listening to this disgusting story, trying not to look too closely at the pictures flashing across the screen. The next moment, I was lying on the floor with everyone staring at me and Mr Banner holding my wrist.

Seeing me open my eyes, he let go of my hand, "Bella Swan," he said, "you fainted. Try not to move too fast. Can someone get her a glass of water, please?"

It was awful. I was stuck on the floor, as Mr Banner insisted that getting up too fast might make me faint again. Meanwhile the rest of the class had nothing to do but watch me and exchange pointed glances.

After I had sipped some water and sat up without any trouble, Mr Banner finally allowed me to escape for the nurse's office, with Jessica's eager escort.

We'd barely got out of ear shot of the classroom when she whispered, "Bella, why did you faint? You're not pregnant are you? Is that why Edward left so fast?"

"No," I said, only just restraining myself from screaming, "of course not! Thanks for your help, but I think I 've got it from here."

"I have to take you all the way to the nurse," she said importantly.

I ground my teeth and wished that I could faint again, ideally knocking Jessica over on my way to the ground.

"Why, Bella," came a cheerful and familiar voice, accompanied by a much-needed boost of calm acceptance, "fancy seeing you here. I was just taking Alice to the nurse's office myself. She fainted in the corridor."

I wondered if I ought to tell him that he sounded far too blasé about his wife's apparent sickness.

Alice was leaning herself delicately on Jasper's arm, and she also seemed to be enjoying herself a little too much.

We reached the nurse then and, with an easy charm, Jasper soon had the nurse agreeing with everything he said.

Of course Jessica must hurry back to her class.

Of course Alice and I both fainting must mean that we were suffering from the same virus.

Of course we should go straight home before we infected anyone else.

Of course Jasper himself must take us.

It all made perfect sense.

Jasper gave a polite dip of his head and, wrapping one arm around Alice and the other around me, bore us swiftly away from the school.

We were outside before I could blink. It had been a while since I had been swept along by a vampire, and for a moment the familiar feeling made my heart heavy. Would I ever stop aching for him?

Then Alice tensed and Jasper cried out in shock, "what is that?"

Alice looked at her husband in concern, all pretence at sickness disappearing instantly, "Jazz?"

"Who was that?" he asked. His voice was filled with something like terror.

He seemed to be looking off into the distance, but, whatever he could see was invisible to me. All I saw was the carpark and beyond that, a forest, green trees, damp with rain, far off a bonfire sending tufts of smoke into the grey sky.

Alice, however, was as upset as Jasper, "I don't know," she said, "Carlisle's in his office, Esme's shopping, Rosalie and Emmett are in classes."

"Edward?" Jasper asked, but he wasn't looking at Alice, he was pressing buttons on his phone.

She shook her head, "nothing's changed there," she said, "certainly nowhere near La Push."

Her phone rang and, she answered it without saying a word.

"Sound off," Jasper was saying into his own phone, in a hurry now, he had whisked us all back to his car.

For a second, Jasper and Alice were just listening. I heard the tips of voices coming through their phones. They sounded the same, I wondered if Jasper had set up a conference call to check on his whole family at once.

"Jasper," he said stiffly, "all secure here."

"Alice," his wife said next, "safe and secure."

More noises came from their phones.

"A bonfire," Alice said, "yes. Yes. Yes. Well, why do you think we panicked?"

"I'm calling Protocol Alpha," Jasper said, sounding very serious.

There were more voices, then Rosalie and Emmett appeared in the car park, hurrying towards us. They ran to Alice and embraced each other, as if it had been years and not hours since they last talked.

Rosalie was holding her own phone against her ear, "of course," she said into it.

Then everyone climbed into the car and, without ever putting down his phone, Jasper drove us out of the school.

Alice and Rosalie held their phones to their ears the entire journey, but Emmett had shoved his into his pocket.

"We're all in the same car," he muttered to me, "sometimes the major takes these things a bit far. Protocol Alpha," he mimicked in a gruff tone, "just means, let's meet up at home."

I think that he was trying to reduce the tension, but there was rather a lot of it about. I was relieved when we reached my house and I could get out of the car.

"Don't worry," Alice said to me, with her usual cheerful smile, "we have some family stuff to take care of. I'll call you tonight. We're getting the day off tomorrow, to recover from our sickness, so I can come and see you!"

I barely had time to say goodbye before the car shot off into the distance.


	7. Chapter 7

It wasn't until the next morning that I found out what all the fuss had been about and why the Cullens dashed away from school in such a hurry.

"Is everything alright?" I asked, when only Emmett and Rosalie arrived at school.

"Something happened," Rosalie said, "it doesn't affect you in any way, and there's no reason for you to worry. But, well, Jasper saw smoke and he panicked. I don't know if there's a good way to put thus, so I"ll just tell you: Laurent came nearby, he was walking in La Push and he was attacked by wolves. They killed him, and that's what the smoke was about. So, everyone 's fine, really. It was a shock, that's all."

"Killing a vampire creates smoke?"

"The only way to be sure that you've permanently killed one of us is to burn the remains," Rosalie explained, "it creates a distinctive smoke."

"And Jasper saw that smoke yesterday?" I said, "is that what 'Protocol Alpha' means?"

"That," Emmett said, "was Jasper playing soldier."

Rosalie scowled at him, "he was worried," she said, "he saw smoke and he didn't know who it was."

"So he called everyone,'" I said, remembering how quickly Rosalie and Emmett had left the school building.

She nodded, "he called everyone and he asked us all to convene at home. At that point, there was no way of knowing exactly what had happened. Jasper gets wary when there's any kind of fighting nearby. He wanted us all to meet up and assess the situation."

"But, we only have a code word for that because Jasper likes to play soldier," Emmett added, "anyone else would be happy to say 'let's meet up at home.'"

"I don't understand," I said, "how can wolves kill a vampire? I thought you hunted animals like that." Didn't Emmett like to kill bears? I thought I'd heard that, and bears are much bigger than wolves. Now, I wondered how dangerous the Cullens' hunting habits really were. After all, vampires are built to attack humans, not aggressive, wild animals.

"We do, though not often wolves as it happens. But, these aren't normal wolves, these are La Push wolves. I thought you knew all about them."

I shook my head, "no, he didn't tell me." I was getting a little tired of hearing all these things that Edward had kept from me, and his family's repeated surprise as they asked, over and over, 'didn't Edward tell you?'

"Perhaps, to save time, you should just assume that he didn't tell me anything," I said.

But, this time Rosalie smiled and said, "I hadn't thought Edward had told you, actually, I thought one of the wolves had mentioned it: the grandson of Ephraim Black."

"Jacob?" I asked, "but, I haven't really seen him in years. There was that strange time he showed up at the dance and that time on La Push beach when he told me the legends about your family and . . ." As I spoke, I recalled the stories that Jake had told me that day on the beach, "oh, wow. That was true? I never would have thought it."

Emmett snorted with laughter, "Bella, you kill me. You accepted vampires straight away, but werewolves seemed unbelievable?"

"I guess so. Well, I already knew that there was something about your family, so I suppose that I was looking for an explanation that fit."

"Do we look like creatures of the night?" Rosalie asked, "does 'vampire' seem to fit?"

She looked so sad at that, and I remembered Edward's face when he talked of what he was. What must it be like to hate what you are so much? How can either of them bear it?

"Jacob didn't say vampires ," I explained, "he called you the Cold Ones, and the coldness of your skin was one of the things that puzzled me."

She nodded. I don't think that I had made a dent in her self-hatred, though. It would take more than a few words from me to stop Rosalie seeing herself as a monster.

"How much did he tell you?" Rosalie asked, "about wolves, I mean, I'm not sure that I want to hear what he said about us."

"He didn't say anything bad," I told her, "he said that your family were good Cold Ones that you have a treaty with his tribe. He told me more about the wolves, though. They have a duty to protect their pack. They have strong teeth. They're larger than normal wolves. There are lots of legends about them, like the one about the third wife. Do you know that one?"

She shook her head, "I don't know any of the legends. The tribe aren't really very comfortable talking to us. Do you know a lot of them?"

I shrugged, "a few, I suppose, but I wasn't paying a lot of attention, to be honest."

"Whatever you remember would be helpful. Perhaps you should tell them to all of the family," she said, "I'm sure they'll all have questions that I won't think to ask."

I wasn't sure if I would remember all the stories that Jake had told me, but I would do my best.

"There's something else you need to know " Rosalie said, "before Laurent came back and lost his fight with the wolves, he was staying with our cousins in Denali. He told them that Victoria and James were mates."

"Mates? Like animals?"

She smirked at me, "pretty much, yes. Vampires mate for life. If you kill a vampire's Mate, then they will never stop trying to get revenge."

"So, Victoria is going to try and get revenge? Who on?"

"We don't know. We don't know which of us she thinks killed him. Maybe she'll try and find out. Maybe she'll just try and hurt all of us. As I say, it shouldn't affect you. Alice is watching your future carefully. If she sees anything worrying, she'll let you know and we will do something about it. There's nothing to worry about."

"Just a homicidal vampire who wants to kill us all."

Rosalie laughed, "precisely, Bella, one vampire against all of us. It's not a cause for concern."

I couldn't help remembering the trouble that one single vampire had caused us before, when Jasper, Alice and I had fled from James.

Rosalie seemed to remember that too, "we won't split up this time, and we won't run. We'll wait. She'll come to us and we'll end her. It'll be easy."

I shivered, "I hate how much danger I brought to your family."

"Did you invite them?" Emmett asked.

I shook my head.

"Then you didn't bring any danger," he said firmly, "sometimes stuff just happens. Nothing good comes of trying to assign blame."

We had to get to class then.

It wasn't until halfway through English that I realised the implications of what Rosalie had told me. Protocol Alpha meant everyone met up back at the house. Did that mean literally everyone? Had Edward gone home? Was he there now? Was that why Jasper and Alice hadn't come to school today?

That was the end of any learning that I might have accomplished that day. All I could think about was Edward. Was he back? If he was back, would he stay? Was there a chance that I might actually see him again?

If there was even the slightest chance of seeing him, then I had to take it.

I couldn't stay at school, sitting through my classes, just wondering.

What if he only stayed today? What if I waited until the end of school and, by then, Edward was gone again?

I couldn't take that chance. If there was even the slightest possibility that he might be at his house, I had to go.

Even if he didn't love me, even if seeing him again was going to break my heart all over again, I still had to see him.

When the bell rang for the end of English class, my mind was made up. I picked up my bag and walked out of the school. I got into my truck and drove straight to the Cullens' house.

I had no idea if Edward would be there, and I suspected that he wouldn't want to see me if he was there. But, that didn't matter, there was a chance that I might see him again, I had to take it.


	8. Chapter 8

"I don't understand," Alice said, opening the door, "why did you come here and why didn't you answer your phone? None of this going to please Charlie at all. You're missing a math test. He's going to find out."

"I had to come," I said, "I had to see him!"

"Carlisle's at work . . . Oh, that 'him'. Oh, Bella, he's not here. I don't understand why you thought he was? We're at home because of that whole fainting thing yesterday. This was the best way to allay suspicion . . . Come inside and sit down. There's no point in your going back to school now. Carlisle can write you a sick note . And, by Monday morning your slightly abrupt exit will be forgotten."

I followed her into the house, feeling like I was in a dream. My arms and legs seemed to be floating. It was as though my body wasn't really mine.

"He's not here?" I echoed.

"Sit down, Bella. You're so pale, Carlisle won't have to invent any excuse for you - which will please him, because he hates lying; but will upset him because he hates you being ill even more. Why did you think that he would be? Did you think he was here all the time?"

"It's because of yesterday," Jasper said, from the doorway. "Rose told her about Protocol Alpha and she assumed that Edward must have come home. Is that it?" he asked me.

Embarrassed at my stupidity, rushing over here to see someone who wasn't even here, and didn't want to see me, I barely managed a small nod.

"Oh," Alice said, "Bella, I'm sorry. I would tell you if he came home, I promise. When I see him come home - when I see a clear idea of when it will be - I will tell you. He'll come home. When he can, he'll come back and everything will be fine, I know it."

"You've seen it?" I asked.

"Visions aren't everything. I know him. I know he'll come back. He has to."

But I knew Alice. I knew that she trusted her visions more than her present sight. For her to say that her visions weren't important must mean that they were terrible for me.

How can it be that every time I think my heart has already broken, there's still a little left? How can it be that, no matter how abandoned I feel, I can always feel it a little bit more?

How is that fair? How can he keep leaving me even after he's gone? Why can't I just sleep and wake up when all the pain is over?

Alice got me to sit down and Jasper brought me a mug of sugary tea.

I suppose they must have somehow covered for me at school, used some of their endless reserves of Cullen charm to persuade everyone that my abrupt walkout was perfectly reasonable.

I didn't need to do anything, apparently, just sit here on their expensive sofa, drinking tea and telling them about the wolves.

Other Cullens arrived and listened too, but the one that I had been looking for never showed.

It was almost cosy, sitting in the Cullens' front room, telling stories about the wolves. I sat on one sofa, with Rosalie by my side. Emmett lounged on the floor in front of us. Jasper and Alice sat on the other sofa. Carlisle and Esme on chairs opposite one another.

Most of the time, they merely listened, but, occasionally Jasper would ask a question. Many of these questions I could not answer.

Whenever I shook my head and mumbled, "I don't know," Jasper would shrug and say, "no matter, please, continue."

At one point, Jasper said, "what would the Volturi say to that, I wonder."

"The who?"

He looked at me, puzzled, "the Volturi, they are the closest our kind have to a police force. I was under the impression that," - he exchanged a quick glance with Rosalie - "that you had observed Carlisle's painting."

"I remember the painting now. But, why would they be interested in campfires at La Push?"

"Less the campfires and more the stories told around them," Jasper explained, "there is only one important rule for our kind. Everything that the Volturi control stems from that rule : keep the secret."

"Jazz," Alice whispered, closing her eyes, "oh, Jasper, what have you said?"

But I didn't think about Alice's distress, because something terrible had just occurred to me.

"The one rule is to keep the secret?"

Jasper nodded.

"What would happen to one of your kind who didn't?"

There was silence. None of them wanted to answer.

It was almost cosy, but not quite. Though the sight of so many eternal couples was a delight, it also reminded me that I was part of no couple, eternal or otherwise.

Oh, the Cullens were gracious hosts, welcoming and kind; but I could not belong here forever, playing the eternal third wheel. Sitting, talking to all these couples, it felt like I was the loneliest person in the world.

"That's all very helpful," Carlisle said, when I'd finished sharing all the stories that I knew, "thank you for telling us, Bella."

"It's no problem," I said.

"While you're here," Carlisle continued, "the results of your blood tests are here, and I was wondering when would be a good time to discuss them?"

"Now's fine," I said. I had thought about this all month. I had answers for Carlisle's questions. I knew what I wanted, and what I wanted was to get started on this adventure.

The rest of the family developed a suspiciously sudden desire to hunt and excused themselves.

"Well," Carlisle said, "everything does look very good. If you were to wish to do so, there's no reason why you couldn't carry a baby to term. But, that doesn't mean that you are in any way obliged to follow through with your offer."

"Of course I want to! I think that I've had plenty of time to time to think about this, and I definitely want to go ahead.'

"You understand that this is very dangerous to you. You might not survive this pregnancy?"

"Yes. I have thought about that. I want Rosalie and Emmett to have this chance. I want to try to carry a baby for them. I trust you to be our doctor, to do what is best for me and any baby. But, I don't want to leave Charlie until I have to. Once I get pregnant, that's when I want to leave. I'll follow any medical advice you give me, and do whatever I need to do to prevent suspicion falling on the family, but I have only just moved here. I want to give us as much time together as I safely can."

"And, have you considered what you would like me to do, if things go wrong? Would you want to become one of us?"

This had been one of the hardest decisions of my life. But, I knew what I wanted. All I had to do know was look Carlisle in the eye and tell him.

I swallowed.

"No," I said, "I don't want to become one of you."

He barely faltered, "very well," he said, "if that's your decision, I will honour it. If you change your mind, at any stage, you only have to say the word. As your doctor, I will carry out your wishes, Bella, you have my word."

"Right," I said, wanting to push past this moment, "what now?"

"What I'd like to do is to take an ovulation test, so that we can discern the best possible day for trying to conceive. I imagine you would rather have as few attempts as possible."

I smiled at that, "yes, definitely."

So, Carlisle gave me a stick and I went into the bathroom for a moment.

I returned and handed the stick over, blushing bright red. Could anything be more embarrassing than giving Carlisle a stick that I had just peed on?

The answer was a resounding yes, because the next moment, Carlisle said, "oh, well, that's a surprise, today would appear to be a good time. I'm sure that you're not in this much of a rush, so, shall we take another test in a month's time?"

"No," I said, "no. I don't want to wait. There's no time like the present, right? Let's go for it."

"Last time we spoke," Carlisle said, "this was only a vague possibility. Now you have only just found out that it is a very real possibility. Don't you think it would be best to give yourself some time to consider the ramifications before taking such a drastic leap?"

"No," I said, "I have thought about it, and I have made my choice, and, if today's a good day to try, then I want to jump off this cliff and try."

"Have you thought," Carlisle asked softly, "about how Edward will react to this news?"

It was a strange feeling, as though the couch on which I was sitting had vanished and I had loall contact with the earth. Somehow, that question made me feel as though gravity was switched off and there was nothing holding me.

"It doesn't matter," I heard myself say from very far away, "not anymore."

"Ah," Carlisle said.

Which is how I ended up, alone in a room with a silver syringe.

I would rather not think about the details of what I did in that room. Suffice it to say, if what I did gave Rosalie and Emmett their longed for child, then it was worth it.


	9. Chapter 9

My nights were often broken. I often woke, reaching for Edward, and felt my heart jump into my mouth as my bleary head remembered that he had left me.

Sometimes, I thought that I was awake and he was there besides me, holding me close, humming my lullaby. Waking from those dreams was the worst.

At first, that night, when Edward really did return, I thought that he was a dream. But, in my dreams he was always in my bed, holding me. He was never just standing there, by my window.

I sat up and he didn't vanish.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed, felt the draft as my toes left their warm nest under the blanket.

My feet touched the floor. It felt real. Still Edward didn't vanish. Still he stood there, watching me with an extraordinary expression on his face. His eyes were big, his mouth was smiling. He was looking at me as though I was the finish line of some gruelling race.

Faster than I would have believed I could move, I was across the floor and in his arms.

He caught me when I threw myself at him, gathered me up and pulled me to his chest.

He held me so tightly, I wondered if he might be real. The Edward in my dreams had never held me so tight.

I wriggled a little, twisted my head and managed to reach his lips with my own. I kissed him.

And, with a moan that I had dreamed of many times before, he hugged me close and kissed me back.

Passionately, desperately, he kissed me as though he had missed me like I'd missed him.

Then the wind tossed my curtain into my cheek in a most unromantic gesture, and I realised that this was no dream.

"Edward," I gasped, when he remembered my need for breath, and let our kiss pause, "you're back."

He smiled that crooked smile at me, "I couldn't stay away," he said. "I know that I'm no good for you, and I owe it to you to keep my distance. But, I'm too weak. I cannot bear it. I had to come back."

"How long are you back for?"

"As long as you'll have me," he said. "I tried being away from you, and I can't ever do it again. I'm here, right here, until you send me away. Then I will be as close as you will allow. Bella, I can't live without you."

I hardly knew what to say to that.

"Is this because your family wouldn't leave?" I asked. "I remember that your plan was for all of you to go, but they all stayed behind."

"It's nothing to do with them, except that they all said I wouldn't be able to stay away and it turns out they were right. I came back to you, Bella, nobody else."

I knew that I needed to tell him what had been happening while he's been away. Something told me he wasn't going to like it. I wondered how I could go about telling him.

Edward took my silence to mean something else.

"I know that I behaved badly," he said. "I am more sorry than I can say. I shouldn't have left you. Can you forgive me?"

Until he knew everything, I didn't think we could resume any kind of relationship. Kissing him now, with this secret still between us, was a kind of lie. It wasn't fair to him.

"Things have changed while you've been gone," I said. Maybe Carlisle could explain what had happened. Maybe Jasper could keep him calm enough to listen.

Edward winced, "is there someone else?"

"No! Of course not. I still . . . Edward, it's complicated." I might be pregnant with your brother's baby, but don't worry nothing dodgy happened, your father helped us. Yeah, I am not telling him.

"I don't expect you to forgive me right away," he said, "but can you give me any hope? Might I one day be able to win back your trust? I will wait as long as it takes."

"I don't know what to say. I've missed you, of course I have. But, it's not as simple as just picking up where we left off."

Edward's face crumpled into misery, "do you hate me now?" he whispered. "I deserve that. I understand. But, I still can't leave you. I'll be anything to you: a friend, a protector, your devoted slave. Whatever place you have in your life for me, I'll take it. I belong to you completely."

"A little melodramatic," I said, not missing the one thing that he didn't offer to be to me: a boyfriend, the only thing that I actually wanted him to be. "I'm in no need of a protector, and I certainly don't want a slave! Just, go home - your family have been so worried about you - talk to Carlisle. Come back in a few days and we can have a proper conversation."

"A couple of days? How many days are you sending me away for?"

I sighed again, "I'm not sending you away. I'm simply telling you to talk to your family. As soon as you're ready - after you've spoken to Carlisle - I will talk to you. Alright?"

I really hoped Carlisle wasn't going to be annoyed with me for setting him up like this. I ought to tell Edward myself. But I had no idea how he would react. I couldn't stop thinking about the Edward from my dream, and of how angry he had been. Would the real Edward be angry too?

He had always hated the idea of my becoming a vampire. The rest of the Cullens seemed quite pleased about the idea. But, I suspected that Edward's mind wouldn't change easily.

Then there was the other risk . . . I knew for a fact that Edward would hate that. I remembered how furious he had been when he'd rescued me in Port Angeles. Carrying a vampire hybrid baby was hundreds of times more dangerous than anything those men could have done.

It may have been cowardly, but I couldn't face telling Edward that I was risking my life so deliberately.

"I'll talk to them," he said, "I promise. But, may I have a little time here first, just drinking in the sight of you?"

He looked so tired that I couldn't send him away. Besides, he was asking to stay. Surely it wasn't deceitful to hold him, if he asked me to.

"Stay," I said, "stay with me tonight."

He smiled then, and sat down in the rocking chair looking at me. I don't know why I'd expected him to join me in bed. I suppose I hadn't accepted our break up yet, not completely. That was something to work on. I blushed.

"What are you thinking?" He asked.

I shook my head, I couldn't share with him how hard it was for me to accept that he didn't love me. I didn't want him to know how impossible it was for me to move on. He would never come near me again!

"What have you been doing?" I asked, hoping to switch to an easier subject, "where have you been all this time?"

His whole body tensed, and he grimaced. I guess what seemed like a lighter topic for me was anything but light for Edward.

"Um . . . Nothing of note," he said, making me suspect that there were more than just my secrets between us now. "What about yourself?"

"I've been here," I reminded him, choosing to skip the what were you doing part of the question.

We fell into an awkward silence.

"Would you mind," Edward said, softly, as close to nervous as I had ever heard him, "if I came a little closer? All the way here, I was imagining holding you. Would you mind?"

I slid to one side of my bed.

Edward smiled, "this is alright?" he checked again as he lay down next to me.

I nodded.

Edward wrapped one arm around me, surrounding me with his scent. It hadn't changed at all.

"And, this," he asked again, "this is alright?"

"This is perfect," I said.

Edward was back, next to me, holding me.

I knew he was going to be angry tomorrow, just like I knew he didn't love me anymore. But, at that moment, snuggled against him, everything felt just like before, as though those awful months had never happened, as though I had come back to life.

For the first time in a long time, I slept well.


	10. Chapter 10

I woke up, still cuddling up with Edward.

It was Saturday and Charlie had left early to go fishing. There was no risk of getting caught with Edward in my bed. Waking up next to him was glorious.

If only I hadn't been human. I could have stayed there holding him all day.

But, then, if I hadn't been human he would never have left me.

With a groan, I wriggled to free myself.

Edward's arm didn't move.

"Er, I need a human moment," I said.

"What's that?" he seemed bemused, then understanding dawned and he sat up, letting me go. "I'm sorry, Bella, I didn't realise that I was holding you so tightly. I'm a little out of practice with humans."

"You haven't been around humans since you left?" I asked.

"No," he said.

That was strange, I had imagined him carrying on pretty much as usual. But, I suppose it made a sort of sense. He had told me, after all, that he was fed up with pretending to be human. I suppose he must have been somewhere where he didn't have to hide his abilities.

In the bathroom, I checked my phone, wondering if Edward's family knew he was back. He'd told me that he hadn't seen them yet, but that didn't mean that Alice hadn't seen him.

Sure enough, I had a text from Alice.

'So, Edward's back,' it said, 'I know this won't persuade you, but you really ought to tell him yourself.'

I scowled at the phone and deleted the message.

I had absolutely no desire to ruin Edward's return even a second before it was necessary.

My phone beeped again.

'Fine,' Alice texted, 'but, don't say I didn't warn you. You can expect fireworks this evening.'

While I took a quick shower, I wondered what it would be like. Apart from that brief moment in Port Angeles, Edward had never been _really_ angry with me. Would he forget that I was human again?

But, when I left the bathroom and found him sitting in my rocking chair, looking at me with eyes thst looked so painfully like the adoring gaze of old, I couldn't be afraid of him.

"Your dad isn't here," he reminded me, "I could stay."

I shook my head. Maybe it was somehow understandable that I hadn't told him last night. But, if I spent a whole day with him and never mentioned the whole surrogacy thing, then I would be as good as lying. He had to know.

"You should see your family," I said, "they were worried about you."

That, at least, was true. Jasper had been close to panic when he saw that purple smoke.

Edward nodded.

"You're right, of course. Will you accompany me?"

"No!" I said, then, realising how abrupt that must have sounded, I added, "you need to talk to them alone and I have an English essay to write."

"If I offer to help with your essay, will you say that I'm avoiding facing them?"

"Yes," I grinned at him.

He grinned back, "Will you let me stay anyway?"

"I don't think you should be avoiding your family. Why would you even want to?"

"Because I made an idiot of myself and they all told me leaving would be a disaster and I should have listened. I'm not eager to have six people reminding me that they told me so."

"I didn't want you to leave either," I said.

"You have been kind enough not to gloat about it."

"I don't think anyone will be gloating."

"Maybe not aloud. But, I can hear all the things that they choose not to say." He grimaced slightly, I wondered what thoughts he was recalling overhearing. It must be hard to get on with people when you can hear their every thought. No wonder he was so drawn to me.

"Is that it?" I asked, "are you back here because you crave the silence of my mind? Is that what you meant all along?"

"What?" He looked confused again, "no! What are you asking me? Do you really believe that I am I more in love with silence than I am with you?"

He'd got his tenses confused in his surprise. I waited for him to correct himself, to say that he wasn't in love with me now, but he had been once.

He didn't say anything.

"Edward," I prompted.

Still no retraction.

"Are you still in love with me?"

"Of course! What did you think was going to happen? I'm incapable of ever falling out of love with you, even if I wanted to, which I don't. Falling in love with you has been the highpoint of my existence. Even now that you've moved on . . ."

"I haven't."

Edward stared at me. "I left you," he said, "I told you that I didn't love you, that I had never loved you. Then I ran away and stayed away for months."

"I remember all that very clearly, thank you."

He grimaced at the realisation of how much he must have hurt me. "But, you didn't move on?"

I shook my head.

"Oh." He sat very still, thinking. Then he looked straight at me and said, "Bella, may I kiss you?"

How could anyone refuse such a request?

But, I didn't deserve to kiss him. Not without telling him what I'd been doing.

"After you've spoken to your family," I said.

Edward closed his eyes and groaned."

"So, you are angry with me," he said thoughtfully, "don't deny it," he added, before I had a chance to deny anything, "I know you a little now, and you wouldn't refuse to kiss me unless you were trully annoyed. However much you want me to talk to the others - which I will do, I promise. But, I can't leave without apologising for what I put you through."

"You don't owe me any apologies."

"Oh, but I do. I underestimated you. I believed that your love was a weak attachment that could easily be broken, and I hurt you. I was trying to protect you, and I thought that I was the only one who would be hurt, but I hurt you."

Not as much as I might have hurt him.

"Yet, there's still hope," he said softly, not precisely to me, more as though he was musing aloud, "there's a chance that you might take me back, after all."

Well, only if he could accept what I have done.

"There's a chance," I agreed.

Edward's eyes, though they were still as black as ever, seemed to sparkle again. His lips quirked in that familiar half smile. He looked almost like his old self again.

Enough like his old self, in fact, for me to notice his outfit.

"Is that what you were wearing when you left?"

He shifted in his seat, looking embarrassed, "I wasn't staying anywhere where I was required to dress for dinner," he answered sheepishly.

"Which explains why you're not in a tux. But, the same clothes for . . ." I added the days and tried to work out where we were, "three months? Where were you staying?"

Edward's teeth flashed, and for a split second I thought I might have angered him, but then I realised that he was biting his lip, a gesture that I had never expected to see from him. He was embarrassed.

"Well, I suppose the sooner I go, the sooner I can return. You did say that I could come back here as soon as I'd spoken to my family, right?"

"As soon as you've settled things with them," I clarified, "and gone for a hunt. I've never seen your eyes so dark. When did you last eat?"

"Alright," he replied, standing up and hopping up onto the window sill, "I'm going. I will be back as soon as inhumanly possible."

He didn't want to tell me when he last fed, or where he'd been. That was probably not a good sign. What exactly had Edward been up to while he'd been away?

The English essay hadn't only been an excuse. I really did have to write it.

I ate oatmeal, because people who deliberately conceal things so that they can carry on hugging gorgeous vampires deserve oatmeal for breakfast.

Then I tried to distract myself with my essay. But my mind kept going back to Edward.

I didn't want to doubt him, but I couldn't help wondering. Had he been acting like a true vampire? Had he fed on humans while he was away?

And, if he had, what was I going to do about it?

I knew he'd fed on humans before. But, that had seemed far away. It all happened before I was even born. His victims had been cloudy figures that I couldn't really imagine: long dead criminals, it was easy to pretend they weren't real.

But, now, it all felt different. There was no veil of time between me and them. If there were more victims, then they were real people. I couldn't fool myself anymore. If he'd been away killing people . . . Really, how did it matter what sort of people they were? Killing people is wrong. It's . . . I hated to even think such a word in conjunction with a man I loved, but, killing people is evil.

He's no soldier, no executioner. He's a vampire, and strength doesn't carry with it the right to do whatever you want.

Could I still love a man who had spent the past three months stalking people and sucking their blood? If I could, what on earth did that say about me?

I wasn't very successful, either in distracting myself or in writing a decent essay.

But, I did, at least, get something written. I checked to see if any stray comments on the morality of vampires had crept in, but it looked like I was safe.

I was just considering breaking for lunch when I received yet another text from Alice.

'Fireworks coming your way in five minutes. Brace yourself.'

I sighed. At least I'd had last night.

Edward knocked on the front door this time.

He'd showered, changed and, from the looks of his golden eyes, fed since he'd left.

"Hi," I said, trying to read his expression to see how furious he was, but his face was eerily calm.

"I fed and spoke to my family," he said, "it doesn't look like you followed your own advice, however. Have you eaten?"

"I had breakfast."

"It's two o'clock, have you had lunch yet?"

"I was just going to eat when you showed up, actually."

He smirked at me, that delicious crooked smile that I missed so much. "Don't let me keep you from your food," he said, "let me in, we can talk while you eat."

While I made myself a sandwich, Edward leaned against the counter, grinning at me.

"You look happy."

"I guess I am," he said, "being able to see you again, it's . . ."

"Like coming back to life?"

"Yes," he looked surprised, "exactly like that. How did you know?"

I didn't answer.

Edward looked at his feet, "ah," he said, "it's like that for you too. So, while I was gone . . ."

"Tell me where you went."

"Why do you want to talk about that? It's not pleasant."

"I thought about you all the time. I wondered where you were, what you were doing. You could picture me in your mind all that time. You knew where I was. I want the same."

"That's fair," he said. "I was trying to find Victoria, at first. I wanted to end her, to remove any lasting threats to you. But, I failed. I lost her completely and had no idea where to look. Then I . . ."

He trailed off.

"Edward, please. I need to know." Had he been with other women? Had he hunted humans again? I hated to think it if him, but he was so coy. It must be something awful.

"I understand that," he said, "it's just, hard to remember it. Do you think - could I hold you while we talk? I want to know that you're really here, with me, that it really isn't happening again."

"Of course!" As if I would ever refuse to let him hold me.

We went upstairs towards my room.

Edward tensed.

"Bella, wait here," he said, "darting into my room alone, leaving me on the landing.

What was happening? Was this some kind of flashback?

It had sounded as though reliving the last three months was painful for him, had it triggered some dark and scary memories? What scared a vampire, anyway?

And what on earth could I do to help?

But, Edward returned.

"I don't want to alarm you, but, there's a scent in your room that wasn't there this morning. Bella, someone's been in your room, another vampire."

"What do you mean? Was it Alice? Has she done something to my clothes?"

He didn't smile, "none of my family," he said, "I know their scents."

For a moment, I decided to put aside this image of Edward sniffing his family. The idea of another vampire lurking in my room was far from funny.

"Victoria?"

He shook his head, "no, I would recognise her scent too, easily. This is someone else, someone I don't know."

"But, how could they have been in the house today, I've been here all day."

"A vampire could easily escape detection by a human, not a problem for my kind. The real question is not how, but why?"

"Alright then, why would a strange vampire be in my house and not do anything to me?"

Edward scowled, despite the question being his suggestion , "now that I don't know," he said, "and I don't like not knowing. We're going to have to talk to my family."

"You don't look very pleased about that."

He gave a sort of half laugh, "I might not have left the house on the very best if terms with everyone," he admitted, "but, I think we will have to put that matter to one side for the time being."

He lifted his silver phone to his ear, "Alice," he said, relief and resignation battling for control of his voice, "did you see anyone? . . . I realise that, and I was asking rather than accusing . . . Thank you. We'll be there in . . . If Jasper wouldn't mind calming things a little . . . Yes, of course, part of the awkwardness is of my own making, but. . . I don't think that 'hypocrite' is entirely fair, this is slightly different . . . Goodbye, Alice."

He returned his phone to his pocket and smiled at me, a tight, nervous smile. "Well, everyone will be there and Jasper agreed to keep things calm, since emotions are running a little high."

"Did you fight with your family?"

"No," he said, slowly , "there wasn't a fight. It was an animated discussion with, well, where Alice, Jasper and I are all involved, a lot of feelings, thoughts and half-formed plans fly around the place. Interestingly, from a human point of view, quite often nothing actually happens at all."

"Fine. Did you and your family have a weird supernatural disagreement that left you all cross with each other?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry. I don't want you to argue - however weirdly you do it - about me."

He sighed. "Firstly, this isn't your fault. Secondly, we really don't have time to talk about this right now. We have to deal with the immediate threat first, and I won't be able to do that effectively, if you and I are arguing. So, please, can we postpone this discussion, just until we work out who your uninvited guest was?"


End file.
